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God leaves no stone unturned to rescue all who would respond to the convicting and wooing of the Holy Spirit. [47] Popular culture, for instance, the graphic novel series The Sandman, sometimes proposes the idea that souls go to Hell because they believe that they deserve to, rather than being condemned to it by God or Satan. [48]
A detail from Hieronymus Bosch's depiction of Hell (16th century). In Christian theology, Hell is the place or state into which, by God's definitive judgment, unrepentant sinners pass in the general judgment, or, as some Christians believe, immediately after death (particular judgment).
[215] [216] Instead of destroying Satan, God decided to test the loyalty of the rest of humankind and to prove to the rest of creation that Satan was a liar. [217] [218] Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Satan is God's chief adversary [218] and the invisible ruler of the world.
The variety of anti-Gods alerts us to the problem of positing any character to God, whether benign, indifferent, or malicious. There are many such character traits we could hypothesize. Why not a God who creates as a jest? Or a God who loves drama? Or a God who, adapting Haldane's quip, is fond of beetles?
In philosophy, the problem of the creator of God is the controversy regarding the hypothetical cause responsible for the existence of God, on the assumption God exists. It contests the proposition that the universe cannot exist without a creator by asserting that the creator of the Universe must have the same restrictions.
Christian writers from Tertullian to Luther have held to traditional notions of Hell. However, the annihilationist position is not without some historical precedent. Early forms of annihilationism or conditional immortality are claimed to be found in the writings of Ignatius of Antioch [10] [20] (d. 108/140), Justin Martyr [21] [22] (d. 165), and Irenaeus [10] [23] (d. 202), among others.
Illustration of the Devil on Codex Gigas, early thirteenth century. Satan, [a] also known as the Devil (cf. a devil), [b] is an entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the yetzer hara, or 'evil inclination'.
7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray.